Snow moves across Minnesota Tuesday

Due to the milder temperatures Minnesota is finally seeing, a storm sliding across the state Tuesday will bring both snow and some areas of rain.

Tuesday’s forecast

Coming off of the warm weather Monday, Tuesday morning is also very mild, with 20s and 30s across the entire state. This puts most of Minnesota 15 to 30 degrees above our average lows for late February.

Because of a storm moving across the state, temperatures do not rise much over the course of the day, but enough to put most of the state in the 30s, with a few highs in the 40s for southwestern Minnesota.

The area of low pressure that crosses Minnesota Tuesday looks likely to track across southern Minnesota, bringing the brunt of its moisture on the north side of the storm.

The timing brings in precipitation by late morning, then clearing out overnight.

The storm is not particularly strong, but it will bring much of northern Minnesota at least an inch or two of snow. 

Due to the track, a slightly heavier corridor of 3 or 4 inches of snow is expected from about Moorhead to Duluth.

A few spots on the western edge of that band that could top 6 inches, prompting a winter weather advisory for that portion of the state until midnight.

For southern Minnesota, including the Twin Cities, precipitation will be far less, with most snow totals under an inch. It will also be mild enough that much of the precipitation will be sprinkles or light rain during the day Tuesday, with the better snow chance Tuesday evening as temperatures drop.

Any precipitation, plus additional melting from Tuesday, will refreeze by early Wednesday, so be prepared for slick spots on the roads Wednesday morning.

Even behind Tuesday’s system, temperatures remain above average through the end of February. 

That extended forecast will be updated around 9 a.m.

Programming note

You can hear my live weather updates on Minnesota Public Radio at 7:48 a.m. Monday through Friday morning.